Clothes hangers



May 28, 1963 H. w. BULLOCK CLOTHES HANGERS Filed March 6, 1962 INVENTOR1 wg .T w Q By HOWARD W. BULLocK MMATTORNEK United States Patent3,091,344 CLOTHES HANGERS Howard William Bullock, 45 The Ridgeway,

North Harrow, England Filed Mar. 6, 1962., Ser. No. 177,827 Claimspriority, application Great Britain Mar. 22, 1961 2 Claims. (Cl.211-113) According to the present invention a clothes hanger comprises aframe having a hook to support it, a pair of 611138 mounted on saidframe, one on each side of said hook, a plurality of clips mounted on amember between two arms of said frame which extend outwardly andsubstantially oppositely from a central portion of said frame at whichsaid hook is positioned.

According to the present invention a clothes hanger comprises asubstantially coplanar tr-ifurcated member having two arms extendingoutwardly and downwardly from a central portion, the third arm extendingdownwardly from said central portion, the ends of said three arms beingsubstantially co-linear and having grooves therein for accommodating theends and middle of a length of wire which is held in said grooves bydetachable cleats which fit over said Wire and engage the ends of saidarms, said wire having a plurality of clothes pegs mounted thereon withmeans for keeping said pegs spaced apart, the top of said centralportion having three upwardly extending trifurcations each with a groovetherein, the three grooves being co-linear to accommodate a secondlength of wire which is also held in said grooves by detach-able cleatswhich fit over said second wire and engage said trifurcations, saidsecond wire having two pegs mounted thereon, one on each side of themiddle trifurcati-on, said middle trifurcation being substantiallycoaxial with said third middle arm and having a blind hole extendingaxially from its upper end into said third middle arm, to accommodatethe lower end of a metal rod having its upper end in the form of a hookby which said hanger can be suspended, said rod having a circumferentialgroove round an intermediate portion thereof to be engaged by saidsecond wire to retain said rod in said blind hole but allow it to berotated so that said hook can be turned into any desired position.

According to one aspect of the invention said hanger is provided with anupward projection or hook at or near the end of each of said two arms toprovide suspension points for skirt loops.

How the invention may be carried out will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a clothes hanger according to theinvention, and

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line A-A' ofFIGURE 1.

The clothes hanger comprises a trifurcated member 1 having two outwardlyand downwardly extending arms 2 and a third arm 3 extending dowwnardlyfrom a central portion 4, the ends of the arms 2, 3 being colinear andhaving grooves 5 therein to accommodate the ends and middle of a lengthof wire 6 which is held in the grooves 5 by detachable cleats 7, asshown in more detail in FIGURE 2. A plurality of clips 8 are mounted onthe wire 6 and are kept spaced apart from each other by syntheticplastic tubular spacing members 9. The top of the central portion 4 hasthree upwardly extending trifureations 10, 11, 12, each with a groove 13therein, the three grooves 13 being co-linear to accommodate a secondlength of wire 14 which is also held in the grooves 13 by a detachablestud 15 which fits over the wire 14. Two clips 19 are mounted on thewire 14 between the trifurcations 10, 11 and 11, 12 respectively.

The middle trifurcation 11 has a blind hole 16 therein extendingdownwardly into the middle arm 3 to accommodate the lower end of a metalrod 17 which has its upper end in the form of a hook 18 by which thehanger can be suspended. The rod 17 has a circumferential groove whichis engaged by the Wire 14- to retain the rod 17 in the blind hole 16 butat the same time allow it to rotate.

The outer arms 2 have hooks 20 formed thereon to provide suspensionpoints for skirt loops. The clothes hanger is preferably made of asynthetic plastic material, apart from the aforede'scribed metal wiresand rod.

In use the hanger is suspended ona clothes line or the like by thehooked end 18 of the metal rod 17 and it can be prevented from rotatingby clipping the clips 19 to the clothes line. Small garments such asstockings can be suspended from each of the plurality of clips 8 mountedon the wire 6. A skirt can also be suspended from the hanger by havingthe loops round its waist band hooked over the books 20 at or near theends of the two arms 2.

In the event of any of the clips 8, 19 breaking, they can be easilyreplaced by simply disconnecting the cleats 7 or 15 holding theappropriate wire in place and sliding the broken clip off the wire andreplacing it by a new one.

The wire 6 also provides a reinforcement for the hanger and prevents thetwo arms 2 from being broken under the weight of a skirt suspendedtherefrom. The wire 6 is prevented from bending by being suspended atits mid point.

What is claimed is:

1. A clothes hanger comprising a substantially coplanar trifurcatedmember having two arms extending outwardly and downwardly from a centralportion, the third arm extending downwardly from said central portion,the ends of said three arms being substantially colinear, grooves in thesaid ends, a first length of wire, said first length of Wire beinglocated with its ends in the said grooves in the ends of said two armsand with an intermediate part thereof located in the said groove in theend of said third arm, three detachable cleats fitting over said wireand each secured to the said end of one of said three arms to hold saidwire in position, a plurality of clothes pegs, said clothes pegs beingmounted on said first length of wire, means on said wire to maintainsaid pegs in the required spaced relationship, three upwardly extendingtrifurcations on said central portion, a groove in each of said upwardlyextending trifurcations, the three said grooves being substantiallyco-linear, a second length of wire located in said three grooves in saidupwardly extending trifurcations, .a fourth detachable cleat secured tothe middle trifurcation to hold said second wire in position, two pegsmounted on said second wire between said trifurcations, the middletrifurcation being substantially coaxial with said third arm of saidframe, a blind hole extending axially from the upper end of said middletrifurcation into said third arm, a metal rod having its lower endlocated in said blind hole, the upper end of said metal rod being in theform of a hook by which said hanger can be suspended, a circumferentialgroove round an intermediate portion of said metal rod, said second wirehaving an intermediate part thereof engaging in said circumferentialgroove, to retain said metal rod in position in said blind hole butallow it to be rotated so that said hook can be rotated into any desiredposition.

2. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1 having a projection at or nearthe end of each of said two arms to form a hook to provide suspensionpoints for skirt loops.

(References on following page) References Cited in -the file of thispatent Re. 5,758 D. 131,682 1,231,517 1,750,905

UNITED STATES PATENTS Schilpp Mar. 18, 1930 4 Smith 'Feb.19, 1935Harpole June 1, 1948 Wyatt May 6, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS France Feb. 4,1953

1. A CLOTHES HANGER COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY COPLANAR TRIFURCATEDMEMBER HAVING TWO ARMS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY FROM A CENTRALPORTION, THE THIRD ARM EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID CENTRAL PORTION,THE ENDS OF SAID THREE ARMS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COLINEAR, GROOVES IN THESAID ENDS, A FIRST LENGTH OF WIRE, SAID FIRST LENGTH OF WIRE BEINGLOCATED WITH ITS ENDS IN THE SAID GROOVES IN THE ENDS OF SAID TWO ARMSAND WITH AN INTERMEDIATE PART THEREOF LOCATED IN THE SAID GROOVE IN THEEND OF SAID THIRD ARM, THREE DETACHABLE CLEATS FITTING OVER SAID WIREAND EACH SECURED TO THE SAID END OF ONE OF SAID THREE ARMS TO HOLD SAIDWIRE IN POSITION, A PLURALITY OF CLOTHES PEGS, SAID CLOTHES PEGS BEINGMOUNTED ON SAID FIRST LENGTH OF WIRE, MEANS ON SAID WIRE TO MAINTAINSAID PEGS IN THE REQUIRED SPACED RELATIONSHIP, THREE UPWARDLY EXTENDINGTRIFURCATIONS ON SAID CENTRAL PORTION, A GROOVE IN EACH OF SAID UPWARDLYEXTENDING TRIFURCATIONS, THE THREE SAID GROOVES BEING SUBSTANTIALLYCO-LINEAR, A SECOND LENGTH OF WIRE LOCATED IN SAID THREE GROOVES IN SAIDUPWARDLY EXTENDING TRIFURCATIONS, A FOURTH DETACHABLE CLEAT SECURED TOTHE MIDDLE TRIFURCATION TO HOLD SAID SECOND WIRE IN POSITION, TWO PEGSMOUNTED ON SAID SECOND WIRE BETWEEN SAID TRIFURCATIONS, THE MIDDLETRIFURCATION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COAXIAL WITH SAID THIRD ARM OF SAIDFRAME, A BLIND HOLE EXTENDING AXIALLY FROM THE UPPER END OF SAID MIDDLETRIFURCATION INTO SAID THIRD ARM, A METAL ROD HAVING ITS LOWER ENDLOCATED IN SAID BLIND HOLE, THE UPPER END OF SAID METAL ROD BEING IN THEFORM OF A HOOK BY WHICH SAID HANGER CAN BE SUSPENDED, A CIRCUMFERENTIALGROOVE ROUND AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF SAID METAL ROD, SAID SECOND WIREHAVING AN INTERMEDIATE PART THEREOF ENGAGING IN SAID CIRCUMFERENTIALGROOVE, TO RETAIN SAID METAL ROD POSITION IN SAID BLIND HOLE BUT ALLOWIT TO BE ROTATED SO THAT SAID HOOK CAN BE ROTATED INTO ANY RESIRED DPOSITION.